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Yallingup, Western Australia
Email:
viti@bearfruit.com.au
Website:
http://www.bearfruit.com.au
Cultural Protocol
The
catalyst for identifying a commonality in ‘shared experiences’ came down to one particular
‘moment in time’.
At the completion of the transcribed interviews Ramchandra KC unexpectedly asked participants
what they felt about the interview experience and speaking with me. Their spontaneous
collective responses left an indelible mark. Cultural protocol opened up an insight from a
business context to a more personal one. However, I did have an earlier insight into this with
the:
2003 – 2005 Australasian fieldwork I realised that the State and Territory border and
Tasman Ocean became invisible in the data gathered. The issues facing women operating
small business enterprises were similar, immaterial of their location.
When I asked the Australasian fieldwork participants at the end of their interviews, did
they have any further commentary or thoughts about the process?
o
Approximately half of the 75 interviewed opted to contribute.
But it was Ramchandra KC unanticipated question that created the ‘moment in time’; the
moment I realised that rural small and micro business women were universally connected by a
commonality. Therefore, beyond the context of cultural, social and geographical circumstances,
their underlying business processes, practices, goals and endeavours were the same. Each was
focused on:
Identifying their potential market/s and or seller/s.
Making of their product/s.
Dispatching or delivering of their product/s.
Receiving gross payment.
Repaying the loan.
Using the net profits to attaining a high standard of specific living.
o
In many cases that includes culturally specific living.
An example from the (2003 – 2005) Australasian fieldwork was a Maori businesswoman. She
utilised Maori cultural protocols as part of her business practices.
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Underpinning
the significance of the following journal entry is that I also have a Maori
cross cultural background; however, there was a sense that this was a normal protocol of
her business operations.
I was greeted culturally to her family business which was an extension to her family home.
Her husband and brother also work in this family consulting business and had been
successful.
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Kowhai Consultin